The dry spell which has hit the Maltese islands since mid-autumn is set to become the worst winter drought in half a century, save in the unlikely event of the heavens opening up today. The 76.3mm of rain measured in Luqa during the three months since the start of December is the lowest since 1966, Met Office records show. The second driest three-month spell in this 50-year period occurred between December 1979 and February 1980 when the amount of precipitation measured was of 92.4mm. And this February is also set to become the driest in at least five decades with virtually no rain (just 2.3mm), in sharp contrast with the monthly norm of 59.6mm. Though the situation might seem less alarming when taking into consideration the 296.7mm of rain measured in Luqa since the start of last September, an overall average based on the other weather stations scattered across the island will give a different picture. As a matter of fact this would yield an annual rainfall of just 217.1mm mainly due to the fact that rural areas were the worst hit by the dry spell. Meanwhile, the farming community is bracing itself for disaster, saying the low precipitation will put more strain on the water...
from timesofmalta.com http://ift.tt/21uOUoO
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